December 2016

Link

12-11-13

Thousands of Palestinians have marked the ninth death anniversary of the late leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Yasser Arafat.

Carrying portraits of Arafat, the Palestinians marched in several cities in the occupied West Bank to commemorate his demise on Monday.

On November 5, a Swiss laboratory investigating Arafat's death submitted the results to representatives of his widow, Suha Arafat, as well as representatives of the Palestinian Authority (PA).

The Swiss scientists, who tested samples taken from Arafat's corpse, said the tests showed "unexpected high activity" of polonium-210, which "moderately" supported the poisoning theory.

The scientists -- from the Vaudois University Hospital Centre (CHUV) in Lausanne, Switzerland -- carried out a detailed examination of Arafat's medical records, samples taken from his remains, which were exhumed in November of last year, and items he had taken into the hospital in Paris where he died.

David Barclay, a British forensic scientist who had studied the report, said, "The report contains strong evidence, in my view conclusive evidence, that there's at least 18 times the level of polonium in Arafat's exhumed body than there should be."

10-11-13

Excerpts from an April 26, 1999, letter from President Bill Clinton to Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat:

Dear Mr. Chairman,

Clearly, the Oslo process has not made the kind of progress we would have hoped to see.

I am asking that you continue to rely on the peace process as the way to fulfill the aspirations of your people. Indeed, negotiations are the only realistic way to fulfill those aspirations.

In this context, and in the spirit of my remarks in Gaza, we support the aspirations of the Palestinian people to determine their own future on their own land. As I said in Gaza, I believe Palestinians should live free today, tomorrow and forever.

The objective of the negotiating process is the implementation of UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338, including land for peace, and all other agreements under the Oslo process.

For these negotiations to succeed, it is vital that the environment in which they occur be credible, serious, and fair. The United States knows how destructive settlement activities, land confiscations, and house demolitions are to the pursuit of Palestinian-Israeli peace. In this regard, we will continue to exert maximum efforts to have both parties avoid unilateral steps or actions designed to change the status of the West Bank and Gaza or to prejudge or preempt issues reserved for permanent status negotiations.

09-11-13

GAZA CITY — It was a vivid symbol of his power and of the state he expected to create and lead. But much of Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat's headquarters lay in ruins Sunday after Israeli warships and combat helicopters blasted the building from the air and sea with about 35 missiles in 45 minutes.

The attack came in retaliation for a pair of horrific Palestinian assaults Saturday--a suicide bombing at a crowded Jerusalem cafe and a shooting rampage at a hotel in the town of Netanya that left 16 people dead and about 100 wounded.